We wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
We are absolutely delighted to have been nominated for the Most Interesting Innovation award at the RailExec Gala Most Interesting Awards 2016. We share the nomination with Story Contracting and Arup for our collaborative work on the refurbishment of the roof at Stirling Station.
Nominations for the awards are chosen from those articles in Rail Engineer, RailStaff and Global Rail News that the respective editors have deemed to be ‘Interesting’ throughout the year. Our article, which was featured in the July 2016 edition of Rail Engineer, can be read by clicking on the link below. Use the following link to find out what Rail Media had to say about our nomination and for more information about the event. RailExec Gala Most Interesting Awards 2016 We hope to see you there. Come and say hello!
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Here at Twinfix we stock and use Makrolon polycarbonate. This is a high quality, optically clear extruded glazing sheet manufactured in clean-room conditions by Covestro AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, in Germany. As with all of our product range, we aim to use and offer the finest polycarbonate available in the marketplace.
We stock a wide selection of Makrolon polycarbonate in our Warrington premises, in different grades, structures, thicknesses, lengths and tints so that we and our customers can select the most suitable product for any particular application.
Solid polycarbonate has traditionally been used for both vertical and overhead glazing applications while the multiwall versions act like double glazing, retaining heat inside buildings. These make great rooflight products. There are privacy grades for use where light, but not visibility is required, and we also offer GW Polycarbonate, a 6mm stippled-surface, solid polycarbonate that mimics traditional Georgian wired glass and is ideal for use in Heritage buildings.
Safer than glass
Polycarbonate is virtually unbreakable, being over 200 times stronger than the same thickness of glass! It is so tough that you are unlikely to ever have a breakage failure, either while installing it or in use. So, no more annual maintenance bills for regular replacement of cracked and failed glazing. Fit polycarbonate once and then forget about it.
Incredibly light in weight
Polycarbonate’s light weight (less than half the weight of the same thickness of glass) produces many benefits during installation, use and transportation to and around sites.
It can be fitted using aluminium structures and frames, rather than steel ones. Being able to replace the heavy steel frames that were required for glass with lighter aluminium frames can help to extend the life of an older building. And being non-rusting, the aluminium will keep its good looks into the future. 25mm multiwall polycarbonate weighs only 3.4Kg/m². Compare this with double-glazed glass that weighs around 30Kg/m² and it is easy to see why this sustainable product is often specified for overhead glazing in both new-build and refurbishment projects.
Polycarbonate’s light weight also results in fewer costs when physically moving polycarbonate around the country and around building sites.
At the end of its long life span polycarbonate may be recycled, along with the aluminium fixings used for its installation.
Summary
If you combine these product benefits with the ground-breaking selection of aluminium fixing systems and installation accessories that we offer, it is understandable that polycarbonate, in both its solid and multiwall forms, continues to be a regularly specified product in today’s modern building and construction world.
Watch this space for future innovations in polycarbonate glazing and installation!
We have just launched a new Data Sheet featuring our 6mm solid Georgian Wired (GW) Polycarbonate. This stippled surface polycarbonate glazing mimics traditional Georgian wired glass and provides specifiers, installers and users with all the modern-day, safety benefits of glazing with polycarbonate in heritage buildings. So, if you have problems with failed Georgian wired glass but your building needs to retain its conventional look, then this is the product for you. Download the Data Sheet.
There’s something that feels just that little bit naughty about eating lots of cake during your morning work coffee break! But, when it’s in the name of MacMillan you soon forget such feelings and put your hand in your pocket for this great cause.
Our team certainly did that the day we held our official MacMillan Coffee Morning. Everyone entered into the spirit of things, baking or buying cakes and then tucking into them with great gusto. Di Forster, the winner of the ‘Guess the number of spots’ (there were 495), also donated her prize money back into the pot and the final total raised on the day was over £400.
Well done everyone – a great team effort with a really great result!
We are very proud of our work at Stirling station that saw the original glass roof glazing being replaced with our Multi-Link-Panel Non-Fragile glazed with Georgian wired effect polycarbonate. We worked with Story Contracting to replace some 2,800 square metres of failed Georgian wired glass in the many complicated overhead canopies at Stirling Station. The roof looks fantastic and still looks in keeping with the station but as the Georgian wired polycarbonate is virtually unbreakable it will stand the test of time.
The Framing system for the Georgian wired effect polycarbonate was our Multi-Link-Panel NF which is classified as Non-Fragile to the ACR[M]001:2014 Drop Test for Roofing Assemblies. Also fitted into our glazing panel were 174 Twinfix Access Panels that enable personnel to undertake maintenance work to be carried out by personnel working safely from below, rather than above, the glazing. These panels were developed by Twinfix at the specific request of Network Rail and are proving to be very popular in station refurbishment projects.
We are proud to have worked with Story Contracting on this traditional station which now looks as good as new again and ready for another busy 100 years!
Read the full story here: Stirling Station Case Study
We are delighted to announce that our new style umbrella canopy has now been added to the Twinfix portfolio of canopies. What better way to make an eye-catching addition to a playground or outside recreational space than with one of these permanent freestanding structures?
In addition to providing a useful sheltered area, they also make a fun and attractive outdoor feature. With one central post there is plenty of usable space underneath for outside learning, play and socialising.
Our robust powder coated aluminium frame will not rust and you can choose from a range of bright and vibrant colours to fit with your environment. The glazed roof panels are available in a variety of coloured polycarbonate and also offer vital UV protection.
Standard sizes are 2 meters, 3 meters and 4 meters diameter.
Call our sales team for a quote.
The latest copy of Connect – the Twinfix newsletter – is now available to read here: Twinfix Newsletter 2016
If you’d prefer a physical copy please just get in touch by phone on 01925 811311 or through the website using our Contact Us page and we’ll get one out to you.
Happy reading!
Our design team enjoy creating attractive and useful outdoor shelters to suit our clients’ varying needs. It may be that a user wants to lock away their nursery play toys at night, or they require something a little more sophisticated than the norm for bus shelters on their business park. Perhaps they need a bicycle or smoking shelter, or somewhere to protect spectators at the side of a sports field. Our covers have also been installed as outdoor eating enclosures at schools – costing far less than a traditionally built dining room and being much quicker to erect and, therefore, utilise.
Using aluminium for the framework is our material of choice as it is such a versatile metal. It can be formed into many shapes, it is relatively light in weight, making it easier and safer to handle and install, it won’t rust in use and once powder coated it retains its good looks. It is also one of the greenest products around – approximately 80% of the aluminium in use today has been recycled at least once, and it can be recycled again and again without losing its many properties.
We generally glaze our shelters with polycarbonate, either solid or multiwall, depending upon whether light and/or visibility are required. Incredibly tough and virtually unbreakable, polycarbonate is available in a range of tints and colours. Sometimes an aluminium cladding product may also be incorporated in the design to help accentuate a shape or to replace glazing in a vertical application where visibility is not required. All of these products lend themselves to attractive curved shapes, which have an element of self-cleaning in rain.
One of our shelters has just been installed round the corner from us on Birchwood Park, where we have already designed and installed two custom-made bus shelters and an open sided motor-bike cover. The brief this time was for a smoking shelter to be used by the occupants of several buildings. Katie Skinsley, Building Manager, says “During the quotation and installation process I found the team at Twinfix to be extremely helpful, keeping me up to date with progress and checking on quality etc. I am really pleased with how well the smoking shelter fits in to the surrounding area and have since recommended Twinfix to colleagues for their own external areas.”
For those who are looking for an elegant, useful and functional outside glazed cover the Twinfix design team await the challenge!
We are pleased to announce the arrival of our new Canopies brochure. You can read it on our website here: Twinfix Canopies Brochure or if you prefer, get in touch via our Contact Us page and we’ll pop a copy in the post for you.
The brochure shows the wide selection of canopies and walkways that you can order from us, most of which are aluminium-framed, although we also have an offering with timber frames should this be your preference. Glazed with either incredibly tough solid or multiwall polycarbonate, both of which protect against harmful UV in sunlight, these canopy roofs conform to the HSE’s recommended drop test for roofing assemblies, ACR[M]001:2014. You can also read about the extras that are available, such as lockable roller shutters, signage and glazed side panels that provide additional weather protection.
Happy reading!